Why does atheism annoy some people?

Religious people are either sneering at you, questioning your "rationality", or thumping their book of fairy tales in your face. I don't care if they want to believe in invisible friends---hell, my son had one when he was 2, but he outgrew it---but why do atheists have to constantly put up with the opprobrium? There was a survey not long ago that showed that Americans would elect a gay person President before an atheist.What gives?

I don't consider myself an atheist, really, but I know what you're talking about Mr. Shark (afuckndelic). It's like if you say you're an atheist, those who can't imagine that get all weirded out by it. Like, WTF is *wrong* with you?!!! Can't you SEE?

And the simple answer is, no, I can't. Unlike you I'm not fucking delusional. LOL

My views on spirituality are complicated. Even I can't sort it out. I know from my own subjective experience that life as we know it is just the surface--Blake's "If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite."--kind of thing. This comes from my experiences as a kid (very mystical) and later using psychefuckndelics.

But here we get into the really tricky areas of philosophy, psychology and so on having to do with consciousness, perception, the 'mind/body' problem and so forth. Way beyond my capacity to sort it all out, that's for sure.

I think I know what you're saying but I can't totally agree with that position. You haven't said what religion is, rather what it's "not," and even that is debatable to an extent. "God fearing" is a built-in phrase in our language, the Bible itself indicating that a healthy 'fear of god' is the beginning of wisdom. And for sure if you grew up in a hell-fire and damnation religious tradition (as I did), fear is very much a part of it.

Because you bring it up again and again and again and again and again.The religious people here don't do that.Because you can't express your views without being insulting (i.e. "Fairy Tales")Because you work your insults against religion into threads unnecessarily. (Someone asks "Do you like fish?" Someone answers "No I don't and that's why I'm glad I'm not a stupid Catholic with their inane tradition of eating fish on their ridiculous holidays.")Because you dish it out but can't take it. Because you ignore the evils of science and declare it's superiority over spirituality.Because you're the thought police. (Someone starts a thread asking how to meet other Christians, Atheists burst into the scene and tell everyone how stupid they are.)I've seen all this happen on RJ more than once.Also, they talk way too much about what good people they are when their behavior is no better than the religious fanatics. Most of the "card carrying atheists" I've met in real life were absolute monsters. Only a few as of the religious fanatics I've met were that bad.(edit)To be clear, I'm talking about outspoken atheists and religious people. I have absolutely no problem with atheism, itself, as it's perfectly reasonable.

JohnSpotter saidBecause you bring it up again and again and again and again and again.The religious people here don't do that.

LOL Wut? I've never asked this before. And the religious people start thread after thread about it.

You asked why atheists annoy some people and I answered your question. We have two threads on atheism on the board now (three if you count Sustanance's thread mocking Christianity), none promoting religion. If you asked "why do some religious fanatics annoy people" I would have answered that too.

I am not a religious person at all. I'm a professional scientist. I'm completely agnostic.

While I consider the Christian Bible (and every other religious scripture I've read - and I've read a lot) to be mostly "fairy tales" as you so tolerantly put it, I can't believe or disbelieve in the existence of a spiritual world beyond the physical universe, and some form of a God, without a shred of data one way or the other.

I recognize that atheism is itself based on faith, and some of its adherents are every bit as zealous as the most fanatical religious wackos.

As individuals I have no problem with atheists unless they mock me or look down on me for not "joining their side".

As an institutionalized group and a political force I despise atheists for attempting to eradicate all traces of religion from our culture - because a huge portion of our art, literature, and culture have their foundation in religion.

I like Christmas. I like Christmas trees. I like the "Christmas spirit". The holiday has absolutely no religious meaning to me, and very little to the vast majority of Americans who observe it. It is a cultural holiday that has transcended its religious roots. So it annoys the fuck out of me when an atheist group starts preaching (yes, preaching) about removing Christmas trees from the White House lawn, or from public school classrooms (which actually happened in my area - the principal came in and forcibly removed the tree right in front of a whole classroom of horrified, crying first graders -all because of one set of whiny atheist parents).

I see no problem at all with erecting a cross as a memorial on public land, if it honors the faith of the person or group it memorializes. And I consider the atheists who sue to have it removed - as well as the ones who vandalize or destroy it (once again, based on a true story!) - to be nothing more than thugs who get off on crushing other people's hopes and dreams.

A lot of atheists tend to be too in your face. Calling people crazy or delusional just because you believe something different than they do gets old after awhile. It's the insults that put people off atheists.

All organized religions are cults.The members are brainwashed into believing that their particular religion/cult is the only one that is correct.So, they spend a lot of time damning everyone who has a different opinion, including atheists, who are open to new ideas and other opinions, and would rather think for themselves than join a cult.

Sharkadelic saidReligious people are either sneering at you, questioning your "rationality", or thumping their book of fairy tales in your face. I don't care if they want to believe in invisible friends---hell, my son had one when he was 2, but he outgrew it---but why do atheists have to constantly put up with the opprobrium? There was a survey not long ago that showed that Americans would elect a gay person President before an atheist.What gives?

My theory is religious people for the most part are good people like the rest of us but as extra incentive to stay good they have the fear of hell. Atheists don't believe in hell and therefore people of faith might feel without that fear of God atheists may be more likely to do bad things.

I think the reverse is true and atheists can be quite annoyed or intimidated by religious people as well.

As an agnostic (I'm not really concerned if there's a god or not), hard-core atheists irritate me for the same reason hard-core bible-thumpers do: the arrogance. The narrow-minded view of "anyone who doesn't believe exactly as I do is delusional/inferior in some way."

In the abstract, it's not atheism itself that bothers me; it's the attitude of the atheists themselves.

Plus we're in the age of Aquarius meaning man will stop looking to God for the answers and will be more self sufficient (if you believe in that). I think that's another reason religions might fear atheism - they see their potential extinction.

bro4bro saidI recognize that atheism is itself based on faith, and some of its adherents are every bit as zealous as the most fanatical religious wackos.

As individuals I have no problem with atheists unless they mock me or look down on me for not "joining their side".

As an institutionalized group and a political force I despise atheists for attempting to eradicate all traces of religion from our culture - because a huge portion of our art, literature, and culture have their foundation in religion.

1. No, atheism isn't based on faith. It exists outside the entire spectrum of faith. It has no use for faith. This is a common mistake made by people who believe in God; they generally cast atheism as the opposite of religion; in fact, it has no reference to it. 2. The atheists I know, and I personally, don't regard there as being "sides" and as I said in the original post, it doesn't annoy me that people believe. I want the same courtesy extended to me; it seldom is.3. I suppose there are people who want the eradication of religion from the culture, but when people say things like you have, they generally mean that they object to atheists wanting God out of the Pledge of Allegiance or official school functions or courtrooms. This is appropriate in our secular democracy; have all the Christmas trees you want, but not on public land and not funded by people who may be Jewish, Hindu, Muslim, or atheist.

TheSkyWasYellow saidAs an agnostic (I'm not really concerned if there's a god or not), hard-core atheists irritate me for the same reason hard-core bible-thumpers do: the arrogance. The narrow-minded view of "anyone who doesn't believe exactly as I do is delusional/inferior in some way."In the abstract, it's not atheism itself that bothers me; it's the attitude of the atheists themselves.

That's it in a nutshell.I am not bothered by other people's beliefs and I don't mock them even if they seem outlandish to me. You have to be a really mean person to do that.

JohnSpotter saidBecause you bring it up again and again and again and again and again.The religious people here don't do that.Because you can't express your views without being insulting (i.e. "Fairy Tales")Because you work your insults against religion into threads unnecessarily. (Someone asks "Do you like fish?" Someone answers "No I don't and that's why I'm glad I'm not a stupid Catholic with their inane tradition of eating fish on their ridiculous holidays.")Because you dish it out but can't take it. Because you ignore the evils of science and declare it's superiority over spirituality.Because you're the thought police. (Someone starts a thread asking how to meet other Christians, Atheists burst into the scene and tell everyone how stupid they are.)I've seen all this happen on RJ more than once.Also, they talk way too much about what good people they are when their behavior is no better than the religious fanatics. Most of the "card carrying atheists" I've met in real life were absolute monsters. Only a few as of the religious fanatics I've met were that bad.(edit)To be clear, I'm talking about outspoken atheists and religious people. I have absolutely no problem with atheism, itself, as it's perfectly reasonable.

+1

In other words, people don't hate atheists. They hate self-righteous pricks who happen to be atheists.

Thom1993 saidPlus we're in the age of Aquarius meaning man will stop looking to God for the answers and will be more self sufficient (if you believe in that). I think that's another reason religions might fear atheism - they see their potential extinction.

I don't see that at all.What I see, watching all the science programs I do, is a surprising increase in references to possibilities of intelligent creative forces.

bro4bro saidI am not a religious person at all. I'm a professional scientist. I'm completely agnostic.

While I consider the Christian Bible (and every other religious scripture I've read - and I've read a lot) to be mostly "fairy tales" as you so tolerantly put it, I can't believe or disbelieve in the existence of a spiritual world beyond the physical universe, and some form of a God, without a shred of data one way or the other.

I recognize that atheism is itself based on faith, and some of its adherents are every bit as zealous as the most fanatical religious wackos.

As individuals I have no problem with atheists unless they mock me or look down on me for not "joining their side".

As an institutionalized group and a political force I despise atheists for attempting to eradicate all traces of religion from our culture - because a huge portion of our art, literature, and culture have their foundation in religion.

I like Christmas. I like Christmas trees. I like the "Christmas spirit". The holiday has absolutely no religious meaning to me, and very little to the vast majority of Americans who observe it. It is a cultural holiday that has transcended its religious roots. So it annoys the fuck out of me when an atheist group starts preaching (yes, preaching) about removing Christmas trees from the White House lawn, or from public school classrooms (which actually happened in my area - the principal came in and forcibly removed the tree right in front of a whole classroom of horrified, crying first graders -all because of one set of whiny atheist parents).

I see no problem at all with erecting a cross as a memorial on public land, if it honors the faith of the person or group it memorializes. And I consider the atheists who sue to have it removed - as well as the ones who vandalize or destroy it (once again, based on a true story!) - to be nothing more than thugs who get off on crushing other people's hopes and dreams.

Maybe I'd like atheists more if they could just try to get along.

I totally understand being annoyed by overzealous atheists and over zealous atheists should tone it down...

but if this is a Christian over atheist thing because you feel atheist are more overzealous then I think you lose. Atheists aren't in the streets protesting giving rights to people. And all over this country, Christians are doing far more than erecting crosses to honor someone who has that faith. They censor speech, books, and actions. Sometimes even when it's unconstitutional.

I'm not buying that Christians are the weak and persecuted. Not after what I've been through after attending three different school systems. I only wish all I got was watching a tree being removed from my sight.